goodbye...FOR NOW!!!

so it's official!
my older sister and her family are FINALLY moving back to new england!!!!!
i am so excited!
it definitely makes writing this post a lot less sad.
because it is always sad to watch my boys say goodbye to their cousins.
all of their cousins, really.
and this post was going to be about how sad the boys get when they have to say goodbye.
but now it can just be about the little visit we had with the currier family!

i loved watching aj and cam hug while grampops was praying before they left.
so sweet

so goodbye to the currier's...for now!
we will see you soon!!

soccer days

i have always loved watching sports.
but there is something about watching your own boys play.
i just love it!
i love watching the looks on their faces, i love watching them work hard, and i love watching them have fun.

we have spent a lot of time at seacoast united, and i don't see that stopping any time soon!

these aren't incredibly good shots - speaking as a photographer.

but they are perfect speaking as a proud mom.

filled to the brim

that is what our house was this week!

12 additional family members were in our house this week-

complete with 8 boys ranging from ages 11 months -14 years old!

lots of crazy fun.

we had to have our traditional bowling game with adam's brother and kids.

we watched movies,

played games, played basketball, played soccer,

 ate an ungodly amount of food

celebrated a birthday

gave lots of hugs

had a few mini photo shoots

played super heroes

and had a ton of fun.

i still have a lot of pictures to upload to my computer, so i will have to have a part two of our family fun!

lego love

this is what riley would do for hours if i let him

pictures make me smile

i was just working on these pictures, and i realized i was smiling so big!
we have had a lot of family here this week, and i had to get some chase boy cousins shots!

it has been so fun to watch these boys grow up together - i just love it.

here's a little before and after :)

now you can see why i was smiling so big, right??
this picture totally makes me smile!
can't wait for our next visit!

a blog is just a blog

ok, so maybe that title was kind of redundant.
but still. sometimes, i think it is good to reminded that a blog really is just a blog!
it may or may not portray what a person's life is really like.
it may or may not describe a true reading of a someone's personality.
and it may or may not express a person's true blue feelings.

sometimes i can read a blog and think..
wow. she really has it all together!
which can then snowball into...
why can't I get my act together then with __________ - you fill in your own blanks!
homeschooling,
parenting,
being a wife,
managing my time
managing my money
managing my business,
exercising
and on and on the list can go.

sometimes, when i write in my own blog,
i have to stop and ask myself what my purpose in the post is.
really!
i do not want to take as many cute pictures i can in the 5 minutes of any given "good" day
and then post it complete with lengthy paragraphs filled with words i have gotten from my thesaurus to paint the picture of perfection.

it's just not real life.
first of all, there is no volume in pictures.
enough said, right?
and secondly, not one single person has their life perfected.
1 John 1:8 reminds me of this!

and, while i do not want to paint my life as perfect,
i do want to show that peace and joy and happiness is totally

REAL
and
ATTAINABLE


i choose not to post on the prideful arguments that can go on between me and my husband sometimes, because i want for him to trust me! and i know that only by pride comes contention (proverbs 13:10)
and it seems like a lot of the times?
the pride is coming from myself!
and come on now, why would i want to write about that?? ha!

i also choose not to post on the times that my kids do the wrong things for the same reason.
not because they always do what's right!
but i don't ever want my kids to think that i have talked badly about them behind their backs.
ever.
i want for them to trust me more than anyone else!

so the next time you read my blog post.
please know something right now, up front.

i am not perfect.
i am not trying to portray that i am perfect.
but i do serve a perfect God,
who amazes me by the love, patience, compassion and forgiveness he has for me.
and believe me. there is a lot of forgiveness being used on ME every day!

so if you are reading this and already have a relationship with Jesus but you're still struggling with feelings of not measuring up?
let it go.
really.
God loves you where you're at. and you know that!
lamentations 3:21-23 is one place i was reading this morning.

"this i recall to my mind, therefore i have HOPE, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not they are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness!"

so do it!
bring back to your mind everything that God has done for you, and hold on to that!

and if you are reading this and you don't have a relationship with Jesus?
dude.
you are totally missing out, and you don't even realize it!

so please. please. ask me.
i would be more than happy to tell you how you can have complete JOY and PEACE in your life.

it's amazing.
and you will never. ever. be the same.

Rachelle Chase Photography { Epping NH Family Photographer }

i have loved getting to know this adorable little family since little skyler was 6 months old.
he didn't really like to smile for me then...

turns out, he doesn't like to smile for me now!
that is...unless my camera is down!
so we had to trick him a little bit. but i did manage to get a few adorable shots of him with his new baby sister!

i think it is safe to say that this little boy loves his daddy!

Basketball Finals

our last day of driving 40 minutes to berwick for the boys basketball was saturday.

i could seriously watch my kids play sports every day. i love it.

i love their excitement, i love watching them play hard and i love seeing the different way they react to things.

aj and riley are very different personality-wise, and this is true when they play ball as well!

when riley scores, he looks over at me and adam and smiles so big!

it is so cute.

when aj scores, he is really calm and chill and just kind of runs back down the floor without any reaction at all.

riley's game was first, and they won!

i would say his team was pretty excited!

it was so cute to watch the way they celebrated!

aj's game was last, and they played a really tough team, with a player who was about a foot taller than even aj! they worked really hard, and aj had a great game, but they still ended up losing.

i wasn't sure how he would handle it.

sometimes, he can be really hard on himself and i was kind of worried that it would be a rough ride home!

but as he was walking over to me, i said - "great game aje. i'm so proud of you!"

and he smiled at me and said - "mom, when we win we praise him and when we lose we praise him, right?"

wow.

i mean, i am proud of him because of the way he plays basketball, sure.

but i am even more proud of him because of the godly, wise young man that he is growing into.

i love that he is learning from a young age how to handle wins and losses.

after watching many professional athletes, i can't help but wonder what a difference it would have made if they had been taught at a young ago to control their emotions, and trust and praise God no matter what!

i can't wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of my boys.